Town manager Scott Crabtree said that people in Saugus have been asking him for the past year when the new Walmart was coming.

Residents got their answer when the retail giant this month began the first stages of construction of the new supercenter at 770 Broadway (Route 1 north).

The 114,244 square foot store, which will be the closest Walmart supercenter to Boston, is set to open in the summer of 2014, according to Christopher N. Buchanan, Walmart’s regional director of public affairs and government relations.

Crabtree said the project is expected to generate $250,000 in annual tax revenue for the town, on top of about $650,000 in one-time permit fees.